The present invention relates to liquid dropper dispensers. More particularly, the invention involves an integrated container cap having a drop dispensing nozzle and a pivotably attached cover for releasably closing the nozzle tip.
Dropper nozzles may be used, inter alia, to dispense precise amounts of liquid products, such as diagnostic reagents, adhesive, ophthalmic solutions and other liquid chemicals. Conventionally, the dispensing of liquid drops from a container, such as a bottle, is effected by inserting a dropper nozzle, or spindle, into the internal diameter of the neck of the bottle and securing a cap thereto in a manner as to operatively fix the spindle to the bottle. Such nozzles are normally closed by separate covers and the covers and the nozzles can, respectively, be snap fit or friction fit elements.
Numerous liquid dispensing devices are known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,010,875 and 4,807,768, among others, indicate that it is not new to construct liquid dispensing caps having an integrally formed closure cover and U.S. Pat. No. 2,514,576 indicates that it is old to provide the spindle body of a dispensing nozzle with a funnel-shaped surface about the inlet opening of the spindle passage for directing liquid thereto.
The principal problem that is particularly addressed by the present invention, however, is the need to incorporate into a wholly integrated cap and closure cover for liquid dispenser bottles the ability to accurately and repeatedly dispense controlled amounts of liquid as precisely sized droplets until the liquid is completely dispensed from the bottle. The concerned cap must be inexpensive to construct and easy to operate. It must further be designed to prevent both liquid leakage from the cap and container as well as the ingress of contaminants into the container.
It is to the achievement of these ends therefore, to which the present invention is directed.